Kitchen dining

In this 6.5" x 5.5" photograph, an unidentified working class family is seated at their kitchen table, in the process of eating a meal. Four people are visible, but an empty chair is reserved for the photographer, his place marked by an overturned dinner plate. The table is set with unmatched china, mostly English ironstone. Other meal time accessories include knives, forks and a hen-in-the-nest dish. The spoons stand with their bowls up in the silver plated spoon holder. A woven, patterned table cloth, most likely red and white, covers the table. A kerosene lamp with decorated font and matching shade is the artificial light source. The kitchen chairs are mismatched and the small boy is seated in a youth chair. The clock shelf above the table is covered with a fringed linen cloth which serves as a lambrequin. The shelf holds a key wind, wooden kitchen clock with pendulum as well as a key wind metal alarm clock. A metal smoking set with a cat figure is also on the shelf. The "Herold" advertising calendar features a United States map but the date is indiscernible. The walls are plain and the doors, trim and wainscoted chair rail are all painted. The young man at the left is amused by his upset tea cup and it seems to have captured his father's attention as well. The mother gazes at the food on the table and the small child blinks at the photographer's flash.